Last year, 30 patients died at Coalinga State Hospital, a psychiatric facility in western Fresno County. That’s more than 2 percent of the population–a death rate that’s almost twice the average of California’s entire state hospital system, and almost seven times higher than the rate within the state prison system. …
Read More »Bakersfield Sound On Display At Bakersfield Museum Of Art
In the 1950s, a new style of country music, influenced by rock-n-roll, emerged from Bakersfield’s honky-tonk bars. Pioneered by music legends like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, the Bakersfield Sound became one of country music’s most influential sub-genres. And now it is being celebrated with an exhibit that runs through …
Read More »One Year After PG&E Left Bankruptcy, Spending By The Fire Victim Trust Remains A Mystery
It’s been a year since Pacific Gas and Electric Company left Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That exit deal included a promised $ 13.5 billion settlement to pay victims of wildfires that were caused by the company’s equipment. The deal represented a milestone to fire survivors, PG&E interim CEO Bill Smith …
Read More »Report: Groundwater Overhaul Could Threaten Drinking Water Of More Than A Million Valley Residents
As drought settles over the San Joaquin Valley, a new report warns of other circumstances that could result in entire communities losing drinking water. More than a million Valley residents could lose their public water in coming decades under the sweeping groundwater legislation known as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act …
Read More »Writer Mark Arax On The History Of Race And Real Estate In Fresno
Writer Mark Arax has been working to uncover some of the forgotten history that explains how many neighborhoods in Fresno were established. What he discovered was that some of the city’s largest housing developers used restrictive real estate covenants to prevent Armenians and people of color from living in certain …
Read More »Take One Small Step To Help Our Divided Country Reconnect
T ake a minute and think back to the last time you really listened to someone whose political opinions were very different from your own. Was it a few weeks ago, a few months ago, was it ever? Valley Public Radio and the public history project StoryCorps are inviting you …
Read More »Processing The Pandemic: A Drag Queen’s Break From Entertaining Was A Mental Health Wake-Up Call
Paul Hernandez designs and sews his own costumes and entertains audiences through the art of drag with his alter ego Leilani Price. He also does his own makeup before performing at LGBTQ night clubs like Fab in Fresno’s Tower District. But the pandemic ended those performances for over a year …
Read More »How To Stay Safe And Avoid Heat-Related Illnesses As Temperatures Rise
Wherever you are in the Valley, you’ve likely been enjoying the reprieve from the heat wave that left us all sweaty and guzzling water earlier this month. Beginning Saturday, unfortunately, most of us are in for another round of triple-digit days, this one even longer. So how can we stay …
Read More »As State Reopens, A Look Back At Loss, Adaptation, Resilience – Final COVID-19 Update For June 18
After 15 months of pandemic-related restrictions, California is back open for business. In downtown Clovis, reactions ranged from cautious optimism to elation. “I still think we should keep our precautions, just to be on the safe side,” says emergency room nurse Angelica Martinez. She’s grateful she hasn’t contracted COVID, but …
Read More »Newsom Misled The Public About Wildfire Prevention Efforts Ahead Of Worst Fire Season On Record
On Gavin Newsom’s first full day in office, Jan. 8, 2019, the newly elected governor stood before the cameras, clad in jeans and sneakers and surrounded by emergency responders, and declared war on wildfires. “Everybody has had enough,” the governor said, announcing he’d signed a sweeping executive order overhauling the …
Read More »California Reporting Project Investigates Bakersfield P.D. Use Of Force
Over a four year period, police officers in Bakersfield broke 45 bones in 31 people, and in no case did the officers involved in those encounters violate departmental policy. That’s the finding of an investigation from the California Reporting Project, a public-radio led collaboration looking into police misconduct. Molly Peterson, …
Read More »UC Merced Professor On How Juneteenth Is A National Reminder Of Freedom And Equality
Yesterday, President Biden signed a bill to make June 19th, known as Juneteenth, a federal holiday. Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 when Union soldiers brought word to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas that they were free, roughly 2 ½ years after the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. UC …
Read More »How Will School Districts Make Up For Pandemic-Related Learning Lags?
To learn how school districts plan to make up for the lost learning that occurred for many students in the past academic year, Valley Edition Host talked with Alyson Crafton, director of student services for Madera Unified, Natalie Wheatfall-Lum, director of P-16 education policy at The Education Trust-West, and Heather …
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